Process of making toy torpedoes and the like



March 17. 1925 J, B. DECKER PROCESS OF MAKING TOY TORPEDOES AND THE LIKEFiled Aug. 16, 1924 Patented Mar.

' stat JOSEF B. Daum, or ELx'roN, ManYLANi).

raocnss orMAxING 'rox ToRrEnoEs AND' man LIKE.

`'Application filed August 16,1924. KSerial No. 732547.

.i To' all what?l 'it may concern:

Beit known that I, Josnr' B. DECKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elkton, in the county of Cecil and State of Maryland, haveinventedv certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making ToTorpedoes and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to explosives, and inore particularly to methodsof making toy torpedoes, toy grenades, and the like.

An object of the invention is,the provision of a method of manufacturingtoy torpedoes in which the possibility of explosionsiis reduced to aminimum.-

In the .manufacture of toy torpedoes, mixtures of chemicals are employedconsisting of materials which are susce tible to easy oxidation,materials capable o supplying oxygen, and an abrasive. In themanufacture of such explosives,'these materials are first mixed in alarge batch and the amount of the mixture necessary for eachl torpedo isseparated therefrom. Such mixtures, due to shock, concussion, orfriction, frequently explode accidentally and the material capable ofoxidation is rapidly oxidized by the oxygen carrier. This prevents aserious danger factor due lto the mixing of the explosive materialsprior to the introduction of the same into the toy grenade .or torpedoshell. A toy torpedo or grenade 'is in itself, relatively .safe tohandle as the amount A of explosive encased in the shell or theindividual charge is too small t0 cause an explosion. p

In practicing the present process, I minimize the danger of explosionsby placing the material capable of oxidation and the abrasive in the toredo shell or chamber and then add the oxidizingmaterial to the mix-Vture. In the use of a mixture consisting of sulfur, potassiumchlorate,'and antimony sulfide in which the latter material, togetherwith a certain amount of avel, acts as the abrasive, I first mix t esulfur and antimony sulfide. Sulfur is capable of easy oxidation but inthe absence of a ready sup,

ply of ox en, is not explosive and a mlxture of sul7 ur and antimonysulfide is therefore not explosive. These materials may be mixed inrelatively large quantities in the proper proportions, such as aregenerally employed in the manufacture of torpedoes and may be readilyhandled without danger. The mixture may be placed in shells or castoytorpedoes or toy grenades and the proper proportion of potassiumchlorate or other materla serving as an oxygen carrier is4 ings `of the'size generally employed in.`

then added to the individual charge within the shell. or casing. A smallamount of gravel is added to facilitate the action'ofl the antimonysulfideor other abrasive and the receptacle is then capped and carriedtoa coating machine where an outer casoperation, the contents 'of thereceptacle are thoroughly mixed and the ,article is then,

in condition to'function properly. If the mixlng, or other handling of.the ingredients Y ing is placed thereon. During the coating explosivemateri cldent.

In the accompanying drawings',n'-I have:

al to cause a dangerous 'acshown one embodiment of the invention. i Inthis showing l Figure l is an `elevation of the finished torpedo,

Figure Qlis a central vertical sectionalf view, and,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the innery casing. orshell.

Re errrng to. the drawings, the reference numeral l designates an innershell of a proper size to receive theexplosivemixturer of the torpedo.This shell is provided with a filling 2, formed of a mixture of sulfur or Iother readily oxidizable material, potassium chlorate, or othercarrier of. oxygen,

and antimony/'sulfide or other abrasive material.y Gravel 3 is arrangedwithin the mixture, as shown. The casing is provided with a suitable cap4 which is adapted to be placed thereon after the charge has beenarranged within the shell and an outer casing 5 is arranged over theshell and formed in anysuitable shape. In the drawings, I have shown atorpedo in the form of a` sphere in which the outer casing is formed ofsmall disks 6 of paper which overlap each other andare secured inposition by means of a suitable adhesive.

In practing the process, the material to be oxidized` and the abrasiveare first mixed in the proper proportions and an individual charge ofthis mixture is placed in each ofthe shells 1. The oxygen carrier andgravel are then placed inthe top of the shell and the shell capped. Theouter casing 5 is applied bymeans of a suitable coating machine and theagitation of the device during the coating operation properly mixes` thevarious ingredients to form an explosive mixture that will properlyfunction.

As stated, an explosion of an individual shell is 'not serious and willnotgenerally result in 'a hazardous explosion or lire.

Itl is to be understod that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is tobe taken as a preferred example of the-same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted vto without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.. f

I claim: Y

l. The process of making toy torpedoes which comprises placing a mixtureof a readil oxidizing material and an abrasive in a sliell, adding anoxygen carrying material thereto, and placing a coating over the shell.

2. The process of making toy Atorpedoes which comprises placing amixture of a readily oxidizing material and an abrasive in a shell,adding an oxygen carrying material and gravel thereto, and Vplacing acoating over the shell.

3. The herein describedprocess of manufacturing toy explosives whichcomprises forming a mixture of a'readily oxidizing material and anabrasive, placing` an individualchargevof said `mixture' in a shell,adding an oxygen carrying material thereto, and closing said shell. y

4.. The herein described process of manufaeturing -toy explosives whichcomprises forming a mixture .of a'readily oxidizing Amaterial andanabrasive, placing an individual charge of saidmixture in a shell,

material there-` agit-ating it to `adding an oxygen carxging1 iateiial es e ,an agi gravel thereto, ea ping t ing it to mix sai materials.

6. The herein described process of manuv faeturing toy explosives whichcomprises forming a mixture of readily oxidizing material and anabrasive, placing an individual charge of said mixture in a shell,adding an oxygen carrying material thereto, capping the shell, andapplying an outer coating thereto, said shell being agitated durin` theapplication of thecoating whereby sai `iiigredients are 4thoroughlymixed. Y

7. The method of making toy torpedoes which com rises placing a. mixtureof a readily oxi4 izin'g material andan abrasive in a shell, and addingthe desired quant-ity of an oxygen carrying material thereto.

In testimony' whereof, I aiix my signature in presence of 'twoWitnesses.

. JOSEF BjDECKER.

Witnesses HENRY B. FABER, J. F.- H UBBARD.

Certificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,530,460, grantedMarc-li 17, 1925,- upon the application of Josef B. Decker, of Elkton,Maryland, for an improvement in Processes of Making Toy Torpedoes andthe likefv7 errors appear in tlie printed specification requiringcorrection as follows: Page l, line 28, for the Word prevents readpresents, andI line 106, for the misspelled word practing readpractising; and that the said Letters Patent should be read wit-li thesevorrei-tions therein that the same may conform tol the record of thecase iii the Patent )lice Signed and sealed this 13th day of A|pril, A.D. 1926.

[SEA-1"] M. J. MOORE,

Acting Commission-er 0 f Patents.

